Heads of Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the ACT on National Education Reform

The National Education Reform agreement will provide education funding certainty for schools in the ACT until the end of the decade and at the same time lock in funding attached to key education National Partnerships.

This is a major reform and will remove the divisive debates between non-government and government schools.

This agreement means that every child, regardless of what school they attend in the ACT, will be treated the same in relation to the base allocation for funding for their school.

The reforms prioritise future school funding arrangements based on need and seeks to lift school education standards across the nation – whether you are in a remote school with significant learning challenges, or in neighbouring schools in our national capital.

Because the ACT Government has provided long-term record investments in our schools, we don’t need large amounts of money to lift us to the resourcing benchmark when compared to other states.

Those schools that currently receive funding below the School Resourcing Standard (SRS) level, will increase over the next six years help them reach the national benchmark to ensure that child, regardless of what school they attend in the ACT.

We support these reforms on the grounds that each of us should care for how children are educated right across the country. At the moment there are thousands of children who are not as fortunate as children here in the ACT, who are not receiving the level of funding they deserve to give them the best shot at life.

We know a national approach in improving educational outcomes is important for Australia as a nation and is good for every student, in every school.

Our Budget this year has made sure that important social reform like DisabilityCare, and now the national education reforms are delivered. This agreement cements these reforms for all Canberrans.

The Heads of Agreement document between the Commonwealth of Australia and the ACT on National Education Reform can be accessed at: